Guess Tomorrow's Season Opening Lineup

[marcmadsen]

If you're bored and itching for the Wings' season to start, like I am, I thought we could mess around and try to guess tomorrow night's lineup and line/defense combinations.

I'd like to say I have a prize to offer, but I don't. So the winner gets a big, fat pile of nothing. Maybe be happy with HF Bragging Rights that really mean zip. But if you want to play along anyway, here are the constraints:

Green & Kronwall have been ruled out. Ericsson is questionable.

13 Forwards to choose from are Larkin, Nielsen, Athanasiou, Glendening, Mantha, Bertuzzi, Nyquist, Vanek, Abdelkader, Helm, Ehn, Frk, and Rasmussen.

Available Defensemen: Ericsson, Jensen, Daley, Cholowski, Sulak, Dekeyser and potentially a call up

Goalies: Howard, Bernier

My guess would be the following:
Nyquist - Larkin - Mantha
Abdelkader - Athanasiou - Vanek
Bertuzzi - Nielson - Rasmussen
Ehn - Glendening - Helm
Frk

Cholowski - Dekeyser
Sulak - Daley
Hicketts - Jensen

Howard
Bernier

Click to read more...

 

[TheMule93]

based on articles from the past few days

Nyquist-Larkin-Mantha
Vanek-AA-Abdelkader
Bertuzzi-Nielsen-Rasmussen
Ehn-Glendening-Helm

Cholowski-DeKeyser
Sulak-Daley
Hronek-Hicketts

 

[WingsMJN2965]

Lol OP...

"My guess is *Copies Ansar's practice lines*"

 

[lilidk]

Both Mantha and Nyquist are right wings , but the best right wing we have in the third line, have no idea what Blush going to do

 

[Filppula]

based on articles from the past few days

Nyquist-Larkin-Mantha
Vanek-AA-Abdelkader
Bertuzzi-Nielsen-Rasmussen
Ehn-Glendening-Helm

Cholowski-DeKeyser
Sulak-Daley
Hronek-Hicketts

Not that I’m complaining, but I thought Nielson was going to be our 2C this season?

 

[Number1RedWingsFan52]

If you're bored and itching for the Wings' season to start, like I am, I thought we could mess around and try to guess tomorrow night's lineup and line/defense combinations.

I'd like to say I have a prize to offer, but I don't. So the winner gets a big, fat pile of nothing. Maybe be happy with HF Bragging Rights that really mean zip. But if you want to play along anyway, here are the constraints:

Green & Kronwall have been ruled out. Ericsson is questionable.

13 Forwards to choose from are Larkin, Nielsen, Athanasiou, Glendening, Mantha, Bertuzzi, Nyquist, Vanek, Abdelkader, Helm, Ehn, Frk, and Rasmussen.

Available Defensemen: Ericsson, Jensen, Daley, Cholowski, Sulak, Dekeyser and potentially a call up

Goalies: Howard, Bernier

My guess would be the following:
Nyquist - Larkin - Mantha
Abdelkader - Athanasiou - Vanek
Bertuzzi - Nielson - Rasmussen
Ehn - Glendening - Helm
Frk

Cholowski - Dekeyser
Sulak - Daley
Hicketts - Jensen

Howard
Bernier

I know on the top pairing at practice, Blashill has DeKeyser-Cholowski

 

[Number1RedWingsFan52]

Not that I’m complaining, but I thought Nielson was going to be our 2C this season?

Yep that's what i thought as well?

 

[Flowah]

Lol OP...

"My guess is *Copy's Ansar's practice lines*"

I mean... I was guessing those lines and I never saw Ansar's practice lines. We already knew Larkin's and AA's lines. Glendening and Ehn were going nowhere but the 4th line. Of course they're putting Cholo top pair with DK. We know who else is sick/injured. Jensen is of course 3rd pair. Of course Howard is starting with Bernie backing up. There's just not that many unknowns to guess on.

Yep that's what i thought as well?

AA had a pretty good preseason I suppose. Maybe he played himself up.

But my guess is that our top 9 is going to be pretty even, with Larkin's line maybe getting some separation in IT. Not like there are worlds of difference between lines 2 and 3.

 

[HIFE]

If the Toronto game was any indication then that AA line could struggle mightily. Abdelkader isn't a top 6 player and Vanek is borderline. It's a line of spare parts- no chemistry at all. It' s a shame AA is being saddled to these two and he's not proficient enough on his own. Good thing Blashill's lines will only last 3/4 of a period.

 

[ricky0034]

If the Toronto game was any indication then that AA line could struggle mightily. Abdelkader isn't a top 6 player and Vanek is borderline. It's a line of spare parts- no chemistry at all. It' s a shame AA is being saddled to these two and he's not proficient enough on his own. Good thing Blashill's lines will only last 3/4 of a period.

Vanek is borderline?

he was the 35th highest scoring Winger in the league last season while playing most of his games on Vancouver

 

[Invictus12]

Both Mantha and Nyquist are right wings , but the best right wing we have in the third line, have no idea what Blush going to do

I wouldn't be surprised if Blashil doesn't have designated 1st, 2nd and 3rd lines actually. Most likely our grinders will be going against oppsing top lines so the rest can ne sheltered a bit.

 

[TheMule93]

Not that I’m complaining, but I thought Nielson was going to be our 2C this season?

We don't have a 1c/2c/3c they're probably all gonna get equal ice time

 

[Roomba With a Bauer]

That lineup looks like a Columbus roster circa 08-09. Rough year ahead.

 

[Flowah]

If the Toronto game was any indication then that AA line could struggle mightily. Abdelkader isn't a top 6 player and Vanek is borderline. It's a line of spare parts- no chemistry at all. It' s a shame AA is being saddled to these two and he's not proficient enough on his own. Good thing Blashill's lines will only last 3/4 of a period.

Vanek and AA have chemistry. I don't see how you could say otherwise. There are other problems with them as a combo, like a lack of forecheck and defensive acumen and speed on Vanek's part. But lack of offensive chemistry isn't one of them.

 

[WingsMJN2965]

Both Mantha and Nyquist are right wings , but the best right wing we have in the third line, have no idea what Blush going to do

Nyquist is pretty much being put with Larkin and Mantha as a trade value move.

 

[Ezekial]

Both Mantha and Nyquist are right wings , but the best right wing we have in the third line, have no idea what Blush going to do

Mantha plays both, Nyquist only plays RW.

 

[HIFE]

Vanek and AA have chemistry. I don't see how you could say otherwise. There are other problems with them as a combo, like a lack of forecheck and defensive acumen and speed on Vanek's part. But lack of offensive chemistry isn't one of them.

The Toronto game was a tire fire. I'd argue that Vanek only feeds off of accompanying top talent like a Boeser just as he rode on AA's preseason cloud. Personally I'd be more enthusiastic about switching Nielsen and AA. Create a true scoring line and dump Nielsen on the spare parts line.

In Khan's postings he switched the order between line 2 and 3 today (from yesterday) so I was basing my opinion on the former. As it stands the right call is AA's line playing a less significant role than Nyquist etc.

 

[Hen Kolland]

It's a shame that they dropped Bert the way that it appears they did. The physical elements he could provide with Larkin and Mantha seemingly would have freed up both of them to play more of a skill game, which I think would be a key to Mantha unlocking the next level of his game. I understand the logic of inflating Nyquist's trade value but removing that aspect, I would rather have seen a forward lineup of:

Bertuzzi-Larkin-Mantha
Vanek-Athanasiou-Rasmussen
Nyquist-Nielsen-Abdelkader
Ehn-Glendening-Helm

As far as defense goes, I would run out Cholowski on the first pair and let him get exposed to what regular season NHL hockey looks like, pair him with someone who isn't a complete and utter pushover so he doesn't get taken advantage of (Ericsson would have been nice), knowing that he will eventually settle in to a bottom 4 role. Beyond that, who cares. The defense will likely be the group that gets the most juggling over the first month or so as the elderly, warm bodies come and go.

 

[Hinterland]

based on articles from the past few days

Nyquist-Larkin-Mantha
Vanek-AA-Abdelkader
Bertuzzi-Nielsen-Rasmussen
Ehn-Glendening-Helm

Cholowski-DeKeyser
Sulak-Daley
Hronek-Hicketts

Also my guess and Ansar basically confirms that Jensen sits. Good news. Now they just gotta find a way to lose Jensen and if possible, Daley and Helm, too.